Unggoy Star Empire
The Unggoy Star Empire, sometimes referred to as the USE or Unggoy Empire is the first interstellar Unggoy government in recorded history. It is currently (as of 2575) the third largest interstellar polity, after the Sangheili Armed Forces and I.C., and second largest military and economic power, after the Interplanetary Commonwealth. It is currently involved in a Cold War with the Commonwealth and its allies. History Creation and near-destruction (2553-2562) As the Covenant literally fell apart, rival factions turning against each other, the Unggoy found themselves far from the most pressing of their concerns. With the New Covenant, Blood Covenant and Sangheili Armed Forces too busy trying to wipe each other out, the Unggoy rose up, declaring the Glorious Unggoy Star Empire, and making and consolidating swift gains. Methane-rich worlds near Balaho had long been denied to them by the Ministry of Concert for fear their population would spiral out of control, overwhelming the Covenant and leading to another Grunt Rebellion. These were immediately claimed by the Star Empire - with little else of interest, none of the other factions bothered to contest it. Capturing more than twenty warships from the Oldaraman Shipyards, a buying or recommissioning others, the Imperial Unggoy Navy numbered less than a hundred ships, but it was enough to get their colonisation effort under way, and by 2561 a sizeable portion of the Unggoy population was in the process of colonising their new worlds, and making the prospect of invading and conquering their worlds a more troublesome business than it was worth. Unfortunately for them, neither the New Covenant nor the Sangheili were eager to see a species that can reproduce so rapidly establish itself as a major force in the Orion Arm, and were equally uneager to go up against their vastly superior numbers. Separate strikes on several fleets and shipyards crippled their naval contingents, isolating the colonies. Lacking the capacity for shipbuilding themselves, the Unggoy were stranded on their colonies - with their rapid breeding, and without the harsh climate of Balaho to offset it, they would soon overburden the planets with their population. A few Unggoy hopefully bartered what they could in exchange for small ships, attempting to reestablish the colonisation effort, but for the most part the Unggoy remained trapped in their own empire. Breeding programs, attempting to control their growth, have largely proven a failure, and within a few generations the Unggoy would have reached a critical point. UNSC peacekeeping forces moved in swiftly, as much to protect the Unggoy's resource infrastructure as their existence. Unwilling to subjugate the Unggoy again, and just as unwilling to use such ineffective warriors in their military, the Sangheili agreed to economic and diplomatic ties with the Unggoy Star Empire. In return for cheap labour, and the creation of Unggoy construction yards, the Interplanetary Commonwealth would provide the Unggoy access to their interstellar commercial shipping - limiting and controlling their spread through the Foreign and Colony Office. The Unggoy in turn benefited from I.C. medical advances, including gene therapy to reduce their breeding rate. Not all Unggoy agreed to this, however, and broke away into a number of smaller secessionist factions. The Balaho Civil War is a footnote in the pages of the War of Vengeance, but a major footnote nevertheless. Balaho Civil War (2562) This six-month planetwide conflict would have been considerably longer had it not been for the Commonwealth's intervention on the side of the Human-friendly Modernists. Thousands of loyal, pro-I.C. Unggoy were trained and equipped with the latest Human weapons and, to the surprise of the UNSC soldiers, who had always perceived the Unggoy as cowards, proved to be extraordinarily competent and tenacious fighters. In contrast, the so-called "Traditionalists" barely worked together at all, and after a few months of hard fighting, Traditionalist soldiers were surrendering to the Modernists in droves. The war was quickly ended with a massive assault by UNSC Marines on the Traditionalists' main base in the north of Balaho's equatorial region. Between the wars (2562-2565) The end of the civil war saw the election of Ippaw dal Pum, a cousin of the famous Yayap, as the Empire's first High Mistress, and the solidification of the alliance between the Unggoy and the Commonwealth, who both recognised the need for allies with the discovery of the New Covenant. With the SAF pre-occupied with hunting down the remnants of the Blood Covenant and Kig-Yar Privateers, they allowed the I.C. to take over the duties of keeping the Unggoy down. Instead, the Commonwealth allowed the Unggoy to rebuild their armed forces and re-establish the Empire, becoming a major commercial power and emerging military superpower in the process. This saw the beginnings of a power that within ten years would rise to challenge the I.C., SAF, and even the New Covenant for supremacy in the Orion Arm. Recognising that certain factions within the New Covenant would want to reclaim their former slave workforce, the Unggoy rapidly built up their Armed Forces, supported by grants and trade from the Commonwealth. With a large, ever-expanding population that was willing to work, the Empire rapidly became a significant economic power, opening up trading alliances with the I.C. and the Prophet of Objection's regime in the New Covenant (this was cut off after the coup by the Governors of Contrition) Though the Sangheili watched this with concern, they allowed their stereotypes to blind them to realities, believing that the Unggoy would be easily crushed should the need arise. In an effort to keep a lid on them, they also placed an embargo on Unggoy goods, stifling a potentially enormous market among the Sangheili. This loss of profit meant that the Unggoy were still in the process of building up their navy when the Second Great War was declared, meaning that they were unable to intervene except with financial support for approximately two years. Second Great War After the invasion of Commonwealth territory by the New Covenant in 2565, the USE felt obliged to help their allies against the Governors of Contrition. Due to the SAF embargo on Unggoy goods, however, the Unggoy had been denied the trade that would have given them the funds to build up their fleet to wartime levels before the outbreak of the Second Great War, and so for two years they were only able to provide financial and material support. The Imperial government called for volunteers to join the UNSC and SAF, and hundreds of thousands of Unggoy agreed to join the cause. In return for lucrative trade deals and territory transfers, the Empire poured resources into the material-strapped SAF. In response, the New Covenant began destroying Unggoy merchant vessels. By 2567, Unggoy material support was increasing by the day, and tensions between the New Covenant and the Empire had reached such extremes that the Governors felt that it was time to remind the Unggoy of their "inferior status", and attacked the Empire's primary naval base at Perharb. This act of aggression encouraged the Empire to declare war on the New Covenant and join the I.C. and SAF, forming the United Powers military alliance, giving the allies the numerical support they needed to take the fight into New Covenant territory. Post-war Government and politics Foreign relations and military Economy Remarks Category:War of Vengeance Category:Unggoy Category:Covenant remnants